Undoubtably the Herald, as part of it's ongoing desire to serve the aims of strengthening the dictatorship of the kleptocratariat, bolstering the political unity and ideological conformity of the people and rallying them behind the Party and the Great Leader in the cause of the great project, will declare a mighty victory over the foreign devils of the IRB, who have been routed from their lairs and sent packing with their tails between their legs.

In other news, Anne Tolley reveals we've always been at war with Eastasia.

Discussion on teh wireless this morning with Dave Walden (sp?) Advertising guru saying it's going to be hard selling advertising because the audience size is going to be very difficult to predict without exclusivity of broadcast.

As Paul C says (although admittedly more politely) if you're not a fan of gorilla racing then you're stuck with very few options.... looks like the only TV viewing in our house for the duration will be selected Channel 6 and C4 viewing (yay for Rough Science and please, please let the third series of Breaking Bad conincide wiht the RWC)

maybe less TV is not a bad thing but I love the movie selection on Maori TV and no doubt that will be taking a back seat...

Yes, they were odd interviews on RNZ this morning... hard to see how Maori TV is going to get much out of this deal, they only way it can work in thier favour is if their commentary and background i/v's etc are streets ahead of the competitors so people don't jump ship for the big games

Can current technology not put small robust cameras on each player - and one channel could just have live feeds from them, or even a 3D version that we can all be part of the action - otherwise seems a lot of money spent for oversupply of signal...

I just can't wait to share the grand marquee with a pack of beer-swilling pissed-up yobs

Large public gathering places showing sport for free on big screens tend not to be the place to find the "pissed-up yobs". For that you'll want to watch the game at the very cheapest sports bars and backpacker pubs.

Unless of course that was a generalisation of rugby/sports fans, in which case, get fucked.

While not a generalisation of rugby/sports fans, I can assure you that, yes, a large venue at the bottom of the Auckland CBD showing sports on large screens, with beer, is exactly the sort of place that will generate a fair percentage of pissed up yobs. You may, perhaps, be slightly more cultured in Wellington. I can assure you sir, that while most people may be relatively well behaved in such a location as our newly spruced mooring, our culture of binge swilling will result in clumps of idiots behaving badly. Shit, you just have to stroll up Queen Street of a Friday eve to realise to truth of this!!!

Support for the Springbok tour was particularly strong in rural and small-town New Zealand. In the Taranaki dairy town of Eltham, 50 lonely protestors were showered with eggs and bottles as they marched up the street one Friday night.

But now everyone is happy. Those brownies aren't getting the games on their own now!!!! I have to smile though. I can't recall the news items this morning mentioning the fact that Maori TV is showing ALL 48 games (32 delayed). But they did mention who was in the consortium.

Party Central reminds me of the big white tent sited in the middle of a soggy field in Dunnes, filled with Southern men swilling Speights.OK for a pre-game 'warm-up', but not the place to be for an after match function.